“I just decided I was gonna get it together and get healthy; I have some little kids and I want to be around for them,” she tells Extra. “Once I decided it wasn’t gonna be fun, like, I lowered my expectations; it kind of got easier.”

The Emmy nominee says she found success by not only changing her eating habits and practicing portion control, but also by embracing exercise!

“I changed everything I ate — and I hated all of that — and then I hated exercising and I did that too, and I hated it the whole time,” she says. “I try to make it much less and smaller portions, but you change what your palate wants. I’m suddenly craving fish and salad.”